A K-9 team scours the woods in Strafford on Monday morning seeking a hiker who was reported missing Sunday evening.
Julian Russell/ Staff photographer

STRAFFORD — A Rochester man who was reported missing on Sunday was found camping in the area of Blue Job Mountain Monday morning, after a multiagency search that began Sunday night.Francis Drown, 54, was located by a K9 search team around 11:37 a.m. on Monday, about a half-mile away from his car. Drown, who had been camping in the woods near Route 202A, was uninjured and did not seem to be in distress, said Fish and Game Lt. Jim Juneau.“We hope every search comes out with a positive ending like this,” said Juneau.He said that Drown was not aware that there was an active search taking place to find him, and was a little surprised upon coming across the search teams.Drown was reported missing Sunday morning, after his abrupt departure caused his family some concern, said Juneau. Before he was found, the last contact Drown had with family members was Friday around 4 p.m., via text message.Around noon on Sunday, Drown’s Chrysler PT Cruiser was found in the parking area on Johnsonboro Road, in the area of Blue Job Mountain. Later that day, a local man reported possibly seeing Drown near the vehicle.While that sighting was not confirmed, rescue crews began searching for Drown starting from his vehicle, and conducted grid searches throughout Sunday night and Monday morning, in what Juneau described as “a real maze of trails.”Amid cold and rain between 9 p.m. Sunday and 1:30 a.m. Monday, bloodhounds from Strafford County Sheriff’s Office and Rochester Police Department searched the area, along with about a dozen Strafford Fire and Rescue Department staff, as well as Strafford police, and several conservation officers from Fish and Game.While canines were used to track Drown from his vehicle on Sunday, the tracks at the time were unsuccessful.The search for Drown resumed at 9 a.m. Monday, when New England K9 Search and Rescue, and Upper Valley Search and Rescue — the two agencies that Juneau said had a crucial role in finding Drown — arrived to the scene with various canines.Drown was found around 11:37 a.m. Monday, by a team consisting of a canine, a New England K9 Search and Rescue member, and a Upper Valley Search and Rescue volunteer.According to Juneau, if the search for Drown had lasted another day, State Police was ready to provide a helicopter to assist with the search.Juneau could not explain what made Drown go in the woods. He said the hiker did not seem to have links to the hiking area, or to Blue Job Mountain. But he said Drown was found camping with supplies that could last him several days.“I don’t know how to classify him being gone,” said Juneau. “It looks like he was prepared.”After Drown was found by the K9 search team, rescue workers walked with him down the trail, to be reunited with his family.An ambulance from Strafford Fire and Rescue Department arrived to the scene at approximately 12:30 p.m. Juneau said that Drown was evaluated by medical staff, but was not transported to the hospital, and was not injured.